


Lurking in the Depths

by kylar



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Little bit of angst, Little bit of comfort, M/M, human!Iwaizumi, kid!Iwaizumi, kid!oikawa, merman!oikawa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-07
Updated: 2016-09-07
Packaged: 2018-08-13 13:11:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7977919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kylar/pseuds/kylar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During a summer trip to the ocean, Iwaizumi makes an unexpected new friend, and also a promise. But when that promise proves too hard to keep, tensions rise and there are some unintended consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lurking in the Depths

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cara1317](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cara1317/gifts).



> So I did a little fic giveaway over on tumblr to celebrate reaching a follower goal, and [carajay1317](http://carajay1317.tumblr.com/) was the winner! Thank you for the fun prompt and thank you so much for your patience as I took forever to finally get this completed. I hope you enjoy it! I really enjoyed working with you on this!

“Hajime, sit down and put your seatbelt on.”

Iwaizumi plops down on the seat with a huff, crossing his arms over his chest. He can’t see out the window when he’s sitting down. And he’s never seen the ocean before. It’s right there, just out his window, and he wants to look.

“Seatbelt,” his mother insists.

Iwaizumi pulls his seatbelt on, sinking down into his seat. “Are we almost there?”

“Yes, only twenty more minutes,” his mother tells him. “Think you can handle that?”

“I guess so.”

“When we get our things into the house, we’ll go to the beach, okay?”

Iwaizumi’s eyes brighten and he shoots up straight in his seat. “Yeah! Can I go swimming in the ocean?”

“Yes. But you remember the rules I told you about swimming in the ocean, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t go too far and be careful of the tides.”

“And if the tide is too strong?”

“Then I have to come back to the beach,” Iwaizumi sighs. He crosses his fingers that the tides won’t be strong today. It doesn’t matter that they’re going to be here all summer and he’ll have many opportunities to go swimming in the ocean. He wants to go swimming today.

Sure enough, just as his mother promised him, they reach the small beach house in about twenty minutes. The beach house used to be his grandmother’s, and his mother told him that he’s been here once before when he was a baby. But he doesn’t remember that, and they haven’t been back since. When his grandmother died a few years ago, the beach house was left to his mom and her two brothers to use when they please. And this summer, Iwaizumi and his mom get it all to themselves.

It’s a small little cottage surrounded by tall, thin trees on three sides, and a short expanse of sandy beach on the fourth. This section of beach is private, and somewhat isolated, but just down the way is a fence that separates a rather large public section of beach. Iwaizumi drops his backpack and duffle just inside the front door of the cottage and kicks his shoes off before racing through the house and out the back door. There’s a short deck, which he crosses in three strides, then leaps off, landing in the thick sand just below.

He sprints across the sandy beach, making his way to the water. The tide rolls up to meet his bare feet and Iwaizumi is surprised at how warm the water is. He was expecting it to be a lot colder.

“Hajime!” he hears his mother call after him. When he looks back over his shoulder, she’s standing on the edge of the deck. “Don’t go in the water until I come out with you.”

Iwaizumi exhales a whine, but calls back, “Yes mom!”

He backs out of the water as the tide pulls it back out into the ocean. The sand is warm between his toes and he kicks at it, sending a small seashell flying. He looks down the abandoned stretch of beach, trying to find something else to do while he waits for his mother. Not a single soul is out here. The private beach is quiet and still. But on the other side of the fence, there is a bustle of people. It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon, and the public beach is packed with swimmers, surfers, sun bathers, and sand castle builders. Iwaizumi decides to go check it out.

He ducks under the fence, and what catches his immediate attention is a boy, about his age, wearing an overly large pair of headphones that threatens to fall from his head, and waving a big metal thing around over the sand. The boy looks up when Iwaizumi crawls out from under the fence.

They stare at each other for a long minute, the boy obviously confused, and Iwaizumi not sure what to say to him. Eventually he settles on, “What’s that?”

The boy looks down at the contraption in his hands, one hand shooting up to keep the headphones from falling off his head. “It’s a metal detector. My dad is letting me use it.”

“Woah, that’s really cool,” Iwaizumi says. “How does it work?”

“I don’t know,” the boy says with a shrug. “It just starts beeping really fast when it finds metal. Look.”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of items. Most are coins and bottle caps, but there’s also a bobby pin, a key, and other little slivers of metal Iwaizumi can’t identify.

“There’s not very much stuff here though,” the boy continues, putting all his loot back in his pocket. “Other people probably already got the good stuff.”

“Why don’t you come over to the private beach?” Iwaizumi immediately suggests. “No one is over there. You might find something cool.”

“Am I allowed to?” the boy asks cautiously, looking over Iwaizumi’s shoulder at the sign that clearly states ‘no trespassing’.

“Yeah it’s okay. My mom and I are living in one of those houses this summer,” Iwaizumi tells him.

“Okay,” the boy says. He hurries back to where his mother is sitting on a beach towel under an umbrella. He says something to her, pointing back at Iwaizumi, and his mother nods. The boy runs back and follows as Iwaizumi ducks back under the fence.

“My name is Iwaizumi Hajime,” Iwaizumi introduces. He takes the boy’s metal detector when he passes it under, then the boy follows.

“I’m Akaashi Keiji.”

Akaashi unplugs the headphones from the machine, looping them around his neck. The machine’s beeping becomes audible, and Iwaizumi walks by Akaashi’s side as he waves the metal detector over the sand.

“So you’re living here this summer?” Akaashi asks him, his eyes still on the sand.

“Yeah! It was my grandma’s house, but she died a couple years ago. My mom and I are using it over the summer.”

“I’ve always lived here. Only about five minutes away from the beach. My mom likes the sand, so we come to the beach almost every day,” Akaashi explains.

“Wow you live here?”

Akaashi nods with a smile. The machine starts to beep faster, and Akaashi pauses. He moves the metal detector around that spot until the beeping become one long beep. Iwaizumi helps him dig, and soon they pull a coin from the sand. They both sigh in disappointment, Akaashi adding it to the growing riches in his pocket.

They wander around the public beach for nearly another hour. Akaashi seems to really enjoy using the metal detector, despite only being able to find coins and bottle caps. Iwaizumi gets distracted when he sees a crab scuttle out of the water. He chases it down, grabbing it by a claw and lifting it into the air. The crab is almost as big as his head.

“Look Keiji!” Iwaizumi giggles, running up to his new friend further down the beach.

Akaashi turns and squeaks when he sees the creatures grasped in Iwaizumi’s hand. “Be careful, Hajime-kun, those hurt when they pinch you.”

“What do you- ouch!”

Iwaizumi releases the crab when the second claw comes up to pinch at his fingers. The claw locks around his thumb and he shakes it twice before it releases him. When it falls to the ground, it lands on its back, its legs flailing about all over the place in an attempt to right itself. This time, Iwaizumi grabs it by both claws.

“Oh my god Hajime put that down!” his mother suddenly shouts from the front deck.

Iwaizumi drops the crab immediately as his mother climbs down the steps of the deck and onto the beach. She’s wearing a thin sundress, the one she always wears when they go to the pool back home, and a pair of big sunglasses. She also has a couple of towels tucked under her arm. That must mean that Iwaizumi is allowed to go swimming now.

“Who’s your friend?” she asks as she lays out a towel on the sand.

“Akaashi Keiji. He was at the public beach with his mom,” Iwaizumi tells her as she pops open a bottle of sunscreen and grabs his arm to pull him closer.

“It’s nice to meet you, Keiji-kun,” his mother smiles. “I hope your mom knows you’re over here?”

“Yes, ma’am. She said I could come play with Hajime-kun.”

Iwaizumi sits still just long enough for his mom to slather him in sunscreen, then takes off towards the water. He’s still wearing his shorts instead of his swim trunks, but he doesn’t care as he races chest deep into the warm water.

“C’mon, Keiji!” he calls after Akaashi.

Akaashi just shakes his head though, looking nervously at the water. Iwaizumi gets the sense that he’s afraid of the water, so he doesn’t push him any further. A crab scuttles by his foot, and he quickly dives under the water to catch it. There’s an outcropping of rock off to his left, and he swims over with the crab still clutched in one hand. He finds a deep crevice in the rock, wide enough for the crab to fit, and drops it in, then dives for more.

The sand beneath the water is littered with the crabs. Small ones, big ones, some light orange, others almost red. He grabs the biggest one he can find, bringing it up to the surface. He shows it to Akaashi on the beach who gives him a thumbs up. When he goes to drop it in the same hole he put the other crab, he hesitates. There are two crabs in there.

He looks around, but no one else is out here with them. He, Akaashi, and his mother are the only ones on this beach, and Akaashi and his mother haven’t even left the sand. Iwaizumi only thinks about it for a minute before dropping the other crab in the hole as well. Perhaps the second crab fell in on its own.

He dives back under water to find more crabs. He grabs a small light orange one with black spots on its shell, then kicks back up to the surface. He ends up a little further out in the ocean after chasing that crab and he can no longer reach the sand with his toes. He swims back to the outcropping, the spotted crab clutched in his hand. When he drops it into the hole, he realizes there are now six crabs. He looks up and down the outcropping, but there aren’t any crabs on it. Where are all these crabs coming from?

A particularly large wave suddenly rolls in and catches Iwaizumi. He slips from the rocks, falling back into the water and getting swept up by the wave. Fear grips Iwaizumi and he struggles to find the surface, but he can’t tell which way is up. His chest tightens and he gasps in panic, his lungs filling with water.

Something slams into his back. He thinks he’s hit the outcropping of rocks, but the surface is smooth, and something snakes around his chest. He’s being pulled through the water, then suddenly the water is gone and Iwaizumi is coughing the water from his lungs. Now the hard surface against his back is definitely rock. It’s hard and uneven and rough. He coughs as he rolls over and pushes up onto his hands and knees.

He’s on the outcropping of rock, but he’s farther out than his hole of crabs, kneeling way out on the end of it. When he looks back to the beach, he’s surprised with how far away it is, his mother and Akaashi just specks in the distance.

“Uhm.”

An embarrassingly high pitched screech leaves Iwaizumi’s lips and he spins around, nearly toppling back onto his back on the rock. A face is peeking out from behind the edge of the rock outcropping Iwaizumi is seated on. Two small hands are gripping the rock just in front of the boy’s face, wide, startled eyes watching Iwaizumi warily. They stare at each other for a long minute, neither saying a word, both of them startled by each other. Iwaizumi eyes the boy and his wet, but somehow still fluffy brown hair, and his bright brown eyes. They’re circled by dark black rings, almost like the eyeliner his mom always wears, only on this boy it’s a lot thicker and circles his whole eye. And his ears are… webby? And pointed?

“Are you okay?” the boy finally asks Iwaizumi. “It looked like you were stuck in the rip tide. I know humans can’t breathe under water, so I thought I’d help you.”

“And you _can_ breathe under water?” is Iwaizumi’s immediate question.

“Of course!” the boy smiles as if it were completely obvious. He lifts himself up higher on the rock, revealing his long neck. He points to the black, wrinkly stripes along each side of his neck. “With these!”

“Those are like… on a fish…” Iwaizumi mutters, staring at the gills in awe.

“Uh, yeah?” the boy says, again, as if it were the most obvious thing. “And so is this.”

He pulls himself fully out of the water and onto the rock. Iwaizumi scrambles back with a surprised yelp at the huge blue tail that follows the boy’s torso. The tail is covered in shimmering blue scales and has a short fin running from the top all the way down to where the tip of the tail splits into two huge fins. Iwaizumi can’t stop staring and the boy flops his tail around a few times, obviously proud of it.

“You’re like… a mermaid?” Iwaizumi questions, pointing at the long tail.

“I’m a mer _man_ ,” the boy corrects haughtily.

He pushes himself off the rock, diving head first back into the water. Iwaizumi scrambles to the edge, prepared to follow after the mysterious boy. He still has questions. But before Iwaizumi can jump in, the boy’s head pops back up out of the water. He drifts over to the rocks where Iwaizumi is perched.

“Uhm, thanks for saving me,” Iwaizumi tells him.

“You’re welcome,” the merchild says in a sing-songy voice. “What’s your name?”

“Iwaizumi Hajime.”

“I’m Oikawa Tooru!” the boy introduces. “Ya know, Iwa-chan. You should really learn to swim better.”

“Shutup,” Iwaizumi grumbles. “I don’t have a tail like you.”

“What’s it like?” Oikawa asks, his teasing turning immediately to curiosity. He reaches out and grabs Iwaizumi’s toe, lifting it, and his foot, off the rock. Iwaizumi struggles to stay upright.

“I don’t know, they’re just feet,” Iwaizumi answers as he reclaims his legs. What else can he say about having feet? He’s had them his whole life. He doesn’t know anything else.

“They look so weird.”

“Your tail looks weird.”

“No it doesn’t!” Oikawa huffs. “It makes me really fast. And makes me a good swimmer too.”

Iwaizumi stands and leaps from the rock, landing with a splash in the water. He opens his eyes in the salty water and sees Oikawa watching him under the surface. When they both surface at the outcropping again, Iwaizumi hanging onto the rocks in the deeper water, Oikawa spits a stream of water at Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi scoffs and splashes Oikawa back.

“So, where did you come from?” Iwaizumi asks.

“Where?” Oikawa asks, seeming confused. “From here!”

“Have you always lived here?” Iwaizumi asks him.

“I lived a few miles deeper,” Oikawa says, pointing out towards the endless expanse of ocean. “But my mom was killed by a tiger shark during the winter. The people that visit the beach keep me company. Even though I can only watch them from a distance.”

“Does anyone know you’re out here?”

Oikawa shakes his head. “We’re not supposed to talk to the humans.”

“You’re talking to me,” Iwaizumi points out.

“Well I didn’t want you to drown! And I had to make sure you were still breathing. But then you woke up.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” Iwaizumi promises.

“Good,” Oikawa smiles. “Do you wanna catch more crabs? There are really big ones a little deeper.”

Iwaizumi nods excitedly. Oikawa must’ve been the one putting those crabs in the hole when Iwaizumi wasn’t looking. The two of them swim and play for hours. They catch and release many crabs, Oikawa showing Iwaizumi the best places to find them. Sometimes Oikawa forgets that Iwaizumi can’t swim as fast as he can, or that he can’t stay underwater as long as Oikawa can. But Iwaizumi tries to keep up. He enjoys being with Oikawa. He’s fun, even if he can be annoying sometimes.

When Iwaizumi hears his mom calling for him to come back in, he turns to Oikawa who had ducked behind the rocks.

“I have to go,” he tells Oikawa.

“Will you come back tomorrow?” Oikawa asks him.

“Yeah,” Iwaizumi says with a determined nod. “I’ll come back every day.”

And he keeps that promise. Every day, all summer long, Iwaizumi races into the ocean, swimming around the end of the outcropping and waiting for Oikawa. He never seems to be far, and Iwaizumi is never waiting long before Oikawa appears from the depths of the ocean. They explore the entire expanse of the private stretch of beach, Oikawa showing him all the best places. They don’t venture very close to the private beach, Oikawa constantly worried about being spotted by another of the swimmers.

Every morning when Oikawa first appears at the outcropping, he always has something new with him that he brought up from the ocean floor, too deep for Iwaizumi to explore with him. One day it’s a bright blue fish. Another day, a small squid. Sometimes he brings up things like coral and shellfish. Sometimes the fish he brings are still alive, sometimes they’re dead. One morning, when he arrives late, he’s brought with him a jellyfish the size of Iwaizumi’s head. But he warns Iwaizumi that he can’t touch the jellyfish. Oikawa had to heard the jellyfish towards the outcropping, and that’s why he was late. But Iwaizumi is impressed with the jellyfish, and they watch the blue blob float around the rocks for most of the day.

When he’s not in the ocean with Oikawa, he’s on the beach with Akaashi. Akaashi’s mom brings him to the beach a couple of times a week, and every time, Akaashi hurries over to Iwaizumi’s house and knocks on the back door. Sometimes they dig up treasures with the metal detector, sometimes they build sandcastles. Iwaizumi wants to tell Akaashi about Oikawa, but he knows he has to keep Oikawa’s secret. He tries to convince Akaashi to go swimming in the ocean with him, maybe Oikawa will decide to show himself to Akaashi, but every time Akaashi refuses. He’s scared of the ocean.

So Oikawa’s secret stays with Iwaizumi. All summer, it’s just he and Oikawa out in the ocean. As the months fly by, Iwaizumi realizes that he’s not looking forward to going back home. He doesn’t want leave this ocean and Oikawa behind. But unfortunately he doesn’t have a choice. On the last day of their stay in the cottage, Iwaizumi is the one that’s late to the outcropping to meet Oikawa. He really doesn’t want to tell him he’s leaving.

“You’re late, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa calls as Iwaizumi walks to the end of the outcropping, jumping from rock to rock.

“Shut up, Shittykawa,” Iwaizumi grumbles. He plugs his nose, then jumps from the rock into the water. “I have to tell you something.”

Oikawa had started to swim away, but he stops and floats back towards Iwaizumi, his eyes big and curious. Iwaizumi starts to feel even more guilty.

“I don’t live here,” Iwaizumi starts by saying. “I’m only visiting for the summer. And I’m leaving tomorrow morning.”

“Oh,” Oikawa murmurs. “Well if it’s further down the coast, I can swim really far.”

Iwaizumi shakes his head. “It’s really far away from the ocean.”

“Oh,” Oikawa says again. Even his pointy ears start to droop with his disappointment. “But you’ll come back though? You’ll come back next summer?”

“I don’t know,” Iwaizumi admits. “I hope so. I definitely will come back though. If I don’t next summer, then maybe the summer after. Or the summer after that. I promise.”

…

“Going somewhere, Iwaizumi?”

Iwaizumi looks up from where he’s quickly packing his suitcase. Hanamaki is standing in the doorway to his room, Matsukawa close behind him, both peering inside curiously. Iwaizumi turns his back to them, continuing to pack as he answers.

“I’m going to the coast. My family has a beach house there,” Iwaizumi tells them.

“And you didn’t invite us?!” Hanamaki gasps. “That’s rude, Iwaizumi. Very rude.”

“Sorry, it’s a family thing.” It’s technically a lie, but they don’t need to know his real reason for racing off by himself to a beach house.

“I see how it is,” Hanamaki huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. Matsukawa remains silent behind him. “No need to lie to us. I’m a big boy, I can handle the truth.”

“I didn’t know you had a beach house. How has that never come up?” Matsukawa questions, ignoring Hanamaki’s banter.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been there,” Iwaizumi admits. It’s not much of an answer, but it’s the best he has. “Seven years.”

“Well, good luck having any fun without us,” Hanamaki grumbles, leaving Iwaizumi’s doorjamb to head to his own room.

Iwaizumi watches his roommates leave, then returns to quickly packing his bag. He’s been looking forward to this trip all semester. It wasn’t until the beginning of the semester that he realized, now that he’s moved off to college, he can do whatever he wants over his summer holiday. No more arguing with his mother to go back to that beach house. No more summers spent sulking in his room wishing that he could be on the coast. Now he can take himself to the ocean. The beach house is still vacant, no one living there yet, but still owned by his family. There’s no one stopping him from returning and keeping a promise.

It may have been seven years since Iwaizumi’s last been there, but he hasn’t gone a day without thinking of Oikawa. He wonders what he looks like now, seven years older. Has he grown into that ridiculously long tail? Or those large pointed ears? Does Oikawa still live in the waters near that beach? Or has he long since given up on Iwaizumi ever returning and left? Or perhaps he’s befriended another human and has put Iwaizumi completely from his mind. Iwaizumi hopes that that is not the case. He hopes that when he arrives, when he swims out into that ocean, Oikawa will be there, waiting at the outcropping just as he was every day all summer long seven summers ago. But perhaps that is too much to hope for.

Iwaizumi is quick to pack his bags and run out to catch the bus as it rolls by his apartment. It’s only a few stops to the train station, and then he’ll be well on his way to the coast to visit more than one friend he hasn’t seen in many years. After finding a free seat on the train, he pulls out his phone and sends Akaashi a text telling him that he’s on his way. If only he could do the same with Oikawa.

It’s late in the afternoon when the bus pulls up to Iwaizumi’s stop at the beach. He crosses the public parking lot, making his way to the cottage he hasn’t seen in so long. It looks just as he remembers it as he drops his bag at the front door and pulls the key from his pocket. The door creaks open, revealing dusty furniture and shelves and a few cobwebs in the corners. He doesn’t pay them any mind though as he kicks the door closed behind him and races up the stairs to the bedroom. He dumps his bag on the bed and pulls off his shirt, fishing through the bag for his swim trunks. He finds them and pulls them on, not wasting a second before hurrying back downstairs and out the back door.

Akaashi’s reply said that he’ll have a lifeguard shift tomorrow at the public beach, so Iwaizumi will meet up with him there, maybe go get lunch with him during his break. But until then, he has a merman to find. He doesn’t hesitate in jogging out to the water and diving in. It’s a little cold, but it’s comfortable to Iwaizumi and he swims all the way out to the end of the outcropping. It too looks just as he remembers it. He remembers in great detail an entire summer spent on these rocks with Oikawa, sharing stories and terrorizing the marine life.

But they rocks quiet when Iwaizumi reaches them, no sign of life. He treads water around the last of the rocks, looking out across the vast expanse of the ocean. He didn’t expect Oikawa to be here when he finally reached this spot, not after so many years. But Iwaizumi hopes that he’s not far, and that somehow he’ll know that Iwaizumi is back.

When Iwaizumi’s legs start to get tired, he pulls himself up out of the water to sit on the rocks. The sun is setting, and he really shouldn’t be out here in the ocean after dark. It’s only been an hour, but Iwaizumi starts to feel disappointment. He just wishes there was a way to contact Oikawa, to tell him that he’s here and that he hasn’t forgotten about him.

As Iwaizumi prepares to head back to shore, he wonders why he feels so determined to find Oikawa again. He spent one summer with the merman seven years ago. In reality, he should’ve forgotten about Oikawa. He should’ve started questioning Oikawa’s existence. He should’ve summed that summer up to the wild dreams of an eleven year old boy.

But he hasn’t. He _knows_ Oikawa is real. He’s spent seven years wanting to be back in this ocean with him. He’s not sure why he clung so hard to the memories of that summer, to the time he spent with Oikawa, but he knows he’s not going to give up until he finds him again. If he has to rent deep sea diving equipment and a boat, he will.

For now though, the sun is setting and he needs to head back to shore. He pulls his feet out of the water and stands, maneuvering over the rocks back to the beach. He’s tired after a long morning of finals and a long afternoon of traveling, so after a quick shower, he climbs into bed and falls asleep quickly.

The next morning he’s up early, cleaning up the cottage that hasn’t been occupied in years. When he gets tired of coughing from all the dust he’s kicking up, he gets dressed and leaves the cottage to find Akaashi on the public beach.

He’s not hard to find. Iwaizumi sees him sitting up in the lifeguard tower, resting his chin on a hand as he watches the beach and the swimmers in the water. Iwaizumi hasn’t seen him since they were eleven years old, but Iwaizumi recognizes his old friend immediately. He has the same dark wavy hair, the same blank expression that hides how he’s truly feeling.

When those eyes fall on Iwaizumi approaching his tower, Akaashi straightens in his seat and smiles. He waves Iwaizumi over as he stands and climbs down from the tower. Iwaizumi pulls the lifeguard into a tight hug when he reaches the sand. He really did miss Akaashi as well.

“So I see you’ve overcome your fear of the water,” Iwaizumi teases.

“Ha ha, you’re hilarious,” Akaashi says sarcastically.

“It’s good to see you,” Iwaizumi says seriously. “It’s been so long.”

“It really has,” Akaashi agrees. “Well, I’m still on shift, but Kuroo-san should be coming through on his rounds and I’ll have him cover my tower.”

“Are you sure that’s okay? I don’t mind hanging out here while you finish your shift,” Iwaizumi says.

“It’s fine. I’m head lifeguard. I can pretty much do whatever I want, as long as the shifts are covered,” Akaashi assures me. “Besides, my shift is over in about fifteen minutes, and Kuroo will be covering for me anyway. No harm in asking him to jump up there a little early.”

Iwaizumi nods, and while they wait for Akaashi’s colleague to arrive and relieve him, they sit in the sand and start to catch up. There’s a lot for them to catch up on. Akaashi is in the middle of telling him about his struggle to find a nearby college so he wouldn’t have to move when he stops mid-sentence and stands.

“Kuroo-san,” he calls, and Iwaizumi looks up to see a tall man wearing the same red lifeguard swim trunks that Akaashi is wearing. His black hair is a wild, spiky mess atop his head, and his grin is crooked and cocky as he approaches the two sitting in the sand. Iwaizumi gets to his feet as well.

“Who’s your friend?” Kuroo questions.

“Iwaizumi Hajime, this is Kuroo Tetsurou. Iwaizumi-san’s family owns a cottage on the private beach. It’s been many years since he’s visited though,” Akaashi answers.

“Private beach, huh?” Kuroo questions. “When are you going to invite us over for a swim?”

“Don’t mind Kuroo,” Akaashi says before Iwaizumi can answer. “Can you cover the rest of my shift? We’re going across the street to get lunch.”

“Oh, bring me back something. Ennoshita too. He should be arriving soon for his shift,” Kuroo says, climbing the ladder up onto the tower.

Akaashi nods and Iwaizumi follows him off the beach and through the parking lot. Akaashi takes him to a small seafood shop just across the street and places three orders, then gestures for Iwaizumi to add his order. After receiving their food, they decide to just head back to the beach and eat with Kuroo and Ennoshita there.

“So how long has it been since you’ve visited the beach, Iwaizumi-san?” Ennoshita asks as they all eat on a bench, Kuroo and Ennoshita keeping an eye on the beach goers, seeing as they are still on duty.

It’s only been about fifteen minutes since they all sat down to eat, since Akaashi introduced him to Ennoshita, but Iwaizumi has already decided that he likes Ennoshita. He’s very nice and quiet, quiet unlike Kuroo, and very down to earth. Iwaizumi enjoys talking to him.

“About seven years.”

“Oh wow that is a long time. That means he probably hasn’t heard about our sea monster,” Kuroo says.

Iwaizumi instantly perks up. Sea monster? Surely he couldn’t mean…? Oikawa isn’t a monster, so Kuroo can’t be referring to him. Perhaps it’s just some fisherman’s tale. Or some other mythical being that lives in these waters.

“No, I haven’t,” Iwaizumi answers.

“Oh boy listen to this,” Kuroo starts to say and Akaashi rolls his eyes. “So, a couple of years ago, people started disappearing when they go too far out in the water. Usually it’s just lone swimmers. But last year, it was a couple. They go out swimming and they disappear under the surface never to be seen again. It’s a sea monster. Something is grabbing them and pulling them under.”

Now it’s Ennoshita’s turn to roll his eyes. “It’s not a sea monster. It’s just unfortunate accidents. They get caught in the rip tide and get pulled under.”

“Then how come their bodies have never been found?” Kuroo questions.

“There are fishermen that swear they’ve seen a sea monster,” another voice says from behind them.

Iwaizumi turns to see a surfer stick his board in the sand and sit beside Akaashi. He’s very muscular, but his face is soft, a goofy smile on his lips, and his black and white hair is styled up in an unusual style. He loops an arm over Akaashi’s shoulder and leans in to press a kiss to Akaashi’s lips. Iwaizumi is a little surprised, Akaashi hasn’t mentioned having a boyfriend. Maybe he was working up to it. But it’s quite obvious just looking at the two of them that they are very much in love, and Iwaizumi is happy for Akaashi.

“Exactly! Thanks Bo,” Kuroo says with a wink at Bo.

“I got your back, bro,” Bo responds, returning Kuroo’s wink.

“Iwaizumi-san, this is my boyfriend, Bokuto. He lifeguards at beach a few miles south of here, but he likes to come bother us on his days off,” Akaashi says.

“You guys have the best waves,” Bokuto says with a shrug. “And the hottest head lifeguard.” He adds the last bit with a wink at Akaashi, which earns him an eye roll at the effort. “No but seriously, there’s a sea monster. The fishermen have seen it. And remember when I got knocked off my board a few months ago? That thing was big, and it wasn’t a shark. It had a big fish tail. Bright blue.”

Iwaizumi’s heart stutters in his chest. Maybe they are talking about Oikawa. A big blue fish tail? But that’s impossible. Oikawa wouldn’t kill swimmers. He was so kind and gentle when he spent that summer with Iwaizumi. Why would he start killing swimmers? No, it can’t be Oikawa.

“You don’t need to worry, Iwaizumi-san,” Ennoshita assures him. Iwaizumi’s concern must’ve shown on his face. “Bokuto-san has a wild imagination.”

“I do not!” Bokuto huffs.

“Shouldn’t you be working instead of insulting my bro?” Kuroo retorts, shoving playfully at Ennoshita’s shoulder.

“You’re the one that should be working, Kuroo-san,” Akaashi responds.

Kuroo groans as he hauls himself to his feet. “Whatever you say, boss man.”

Ennoshita stands too. “He’s right though, I should get back to my shift.”

The two walk off, but the stories don’t leave Iwaizumi as easily. He really needs to find Oikawa now. He needs to confirm that this hasn’t been his doing. That he isn’t the one killing these people, that it’s been a freak accident. The rip tides are strong here. They have to have been dragged under by the current. And Bokuto just saw a big fish, that’s all.

Iwaizumi sits with Akaashi and Bokuto for a few minutes longer, but then Bokuto attempts to drag Akaashi into the water to surf with him. Iwaizumi tells Akaashi that it’s alright, that he can go. They’ll catch up later. Besides, Iwaizumi has some more unpacking to do anyways.

It’s not the truth. Iwaizumi has nothing he needs to unpack. Instead, he has this sudden, overwhelming need to find Oikawa, to make sure that he’s not the one killing all these people. So he walks back to the private beach and heads into the water, swimming out to the same spot as yesterday, and waits.

The next couple weeks bring Iwaizumi no closer to finding Oikawa. He meets up with Akaashi and his fellow lifeguards frequently and gets to know them really well. Kuroo and Bokuto don’t talk much more about the mysterious sea monster, but it does come up occasionally. Whenever it does, Iwaizumi fights to keep a neutral expression, to not give anything away.

When he’s not with Akaashi or his friends, Iwaizumi is out at the rock outcropping, waiting for any signs of Oikawa. A few times he even swims out as far as he can manage while still having enough energy left to make it back to shore. But each time proves pointless.

Tonight, Iwaizumi swims out further than he’s ever made it before. He’s already feeling fatigued, yet he doesn’t stop to turn back around. He’s determined to find Oikawa. He has to.

Just as he stops to tread water, so far out he can hardly make out the shoreline behind him, something brushes against the bottom of his left foot. He jerks it up with a jolt of fear, and the immediate thought of a shark enters his mind. There’s a brief minute of panic, as he turns himself around to quickly swim back to shore, and then something grabs his ankle and pulls him beneath the surface of the water.

Fear lances through his entire body, and his immediate and desperate struggle against whatever has his foot it purely instinctual. He thrashes and kicks and tries to claw at whatever is holding him beneath the surface. The tiredness of his muscles is completely forgotten as adrenaline floods his system, his body desperate to break free and make it back to the surface.

In a fleeting moment of clarity, as Iwaiuzmi’s free heel makes contact with the creature, shoving it away from him, Iwaizumi’s mind notes that the digits holding his ankle are remarkably finger like. When that realization sparks in his mind, Iwaizumi’s eyes fly open against the saltiness of the ocean water. Two bright eyes stare back at him, and as both bodies still, recognition dawns in both stares.

He’s so much older. The light blue of his scales is darker now, Iwaizumi can see that in the haziness of the ocean water. His hair is longer, but the same soft shade. His face isn’t so round and childish. He’s grown a strong chin and prominent cheek bones and a long, slim nose. And his tail is so much longer, snaking through the water beneath him. Despite the many huge changes, Iwaizumi immediately recognizes the creature with a death grip on his ankle. And it’s obvious that the creature recognizes the human in his grasp as well.

The hand releases him, and in movements too fast to be normal in the water, Oikawa surges forward, wrapping an arm around Iwaizumi’s chest from behind and launching them through the water towards the surface. When the water breaks, Iwaizumi’s burning lungs immediately cough, expelling the water he must’ve accidentally inhaled during the struggle. Then he’s gasping in a much needed breath, filling his lungs with the oxygen they’re so desperately craving. He coughs a few more times, and takes a few more deep breathes, before he remembers the strong arm still gripped tightly around his chest, the smoothness of the scales that brush against his legs, and the hurried breathes against the back of his neck.

Iwaizumi pushes out of the hold, nearly falling back beneath the surface of the water at suddenly having to keep himself afloat, and spins to look at the face he’s been longing to see for years.

“Oikawa?” he questions. His voice is a little hoarse, a little scratchy from the abrasiveness of the saltwater.

The brown eyes watch him for a minute longer, almost confused, before he speaks. “Iwa-chan?” he murmurs.

A hand leaves the murkiness of the saltwater to reach towards Iwaizumi’s face. Iwaizumi is nearly startled by the long claws and the faintness of scales across the back of the hand, neither of which he remembers being there seven years ago. But he lets Oikawa run his fingers over his cheek, across his nose, over his lips, and along his jaw. It’s as if Oikawa is trying to assure himself that Iwaizumi is real, that he’s actually before him, and isn’t just a figment of his imagination.

“You were gone so long,” Oikawa finally says. “Why were you gone so long?” His voice is hard, a frown pulling at his lips and brow. It’s not so much a question, but more of a demand.

“I’m sorry, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi finds himself blurting out, unable to stop the words he’s so desperate to say. “I’m sorry I was away for so long. I wanted to come back every single summer, but my mother wouldn’t let me. But I don’t live with her anymore, so I took the first opportunity I had to come here and try to find you again. I’m so sorry I made you wait for so long.”

“I didn’t think you were ever coming back,” Oikawa says, his voice soft again. “I thought you had forgotten about me.”

“I couldn’t have forgotten you,” Iwaizumi tells him.

The smile that spreads across Oikawa’s face is dazzling. But it disappears a second later and a fist flies out to punch Iwaizumi in the shoulder. “I’m still mad at you though,” Oikawa growls.

“Be mad at me all you want,” Iwaizumi starts to say, but a cramp in his leg interrupts his train of thought. “But, can you be mad at me on the shore?”

“Oh!” Oikawa exclaims.

He grabs Iwaizumi’s arm and positions him on his back before swimming quickly through the water back towards shore. Iwaizumi turns his face away from the splashing of water as Oikawa takes them to the rock outcropping. Iwaizumi climbs up onto the nearest rock and massages at his cramping calf.

It’s quiet between the two of them for a long minute, Iwaizumi trying not to openly stare at Oikawa, and Oikawa seemingly doing the same. Oikawa is the first to break the silence, just like he always was when they were kids.

“I waited here every day of every summer for seven years,” Oikawa murmurs, dragging a sharp claw in rough patterns across the surface of the rock.

Iwaizumi looks down at his hands in his lap. “Sorry,” he murmurs. “I wanted to be here. I promise I did.”

Oikawa is still frowning. “I’ve been abandoned all my life. My dad left when I was born, my mother was taken from me, my pack deserted me because they didn’t want to take care of a helpless orphan, and then you never came back. I thought for sure you had abandoned me too. It hurt, Iwa-chan.”

Iwaizumi feels bad for Oikawa- and also quite guilty- but he doesn’t know what to say. He was part of the problem, he hurt Oikawa just like everyone else in his life has. But a thought pops into his mind, a thought that has plagued him a lot these last couple weeks.

“Oikawa…” Iwaizumi murmurs. “Those people that have disappeared, the ones that drowned, did you do that to them?”

Oikawa looks up at Iwaizumi in surprise. “How did you know about that? You haven’t been here.”

“I have friends here. They’re lifeguards. Answer the question, Oikawa.”

Oikawa turns a sharp glare on Iwaizumi. “No! Of course I didn’t kill them. How could you think that?” he questions, clearly offended by the accusation.

“Then how did they die?” Iwaizumi asks. He doesn’t think Oikawa is lying. He isn’t trying to push him into telling the truth. He believes Oikawa, but he’s genuinely curious as to how they did die, if Oikawa wasn’t the one that killed them.

“It was my pack,” Oikawa admits, his voice soft as his eyes drop back onto the surface of the rock. “They found me out here, hovering around the beach. They tried to get me to leave, to go with them to the deeper waters. They warned me that if I was spotted by a human, that it would be the death of me, and possibly the death of them if the humans started a hunt for the rest of the pack. But I couldn’t leave. I had to stay here. Just in case you came back.”

Iwaizumi tries to swallow down his guilt. “So why kill humans then? Were they trying to protect you?”

“No, they weren’t,” he snaps, not in anger at Iwaizumi’s question, but directed at his pack for committing these acts. “They were trying to scare me into coming with them. They killed people and made sure a few fishermen caught a glimpse of them, hoping that would scare me into leaving these shallow waters. They thought that if they put the humans on alert, that if they made it unsafe for me to stay near the beach, that I would leave. I tried to stop them, to save some of those humans, but there was nothing I could do.”

Iwaizumi sighs and runs a hand through his wet hair. He tries to hide how relieved he is to finally have the truth after wondering for so long. And he also tries to hide how equally guilty he feels for even entertaining the thought that Oikawa could do something like this, that he could kill so many innocent people.

“I’m sorry they put you through that,” he murmurs, and Oikawa shrugs, as if trying to play off how hard the whole ordeal must’ve been on him. Iwaizumi can’t imagine having to endure something like that, to have your home made so unsafe by people who are supposed to care about you. It makes him wonder why Oikawa continued to put up with it. “But I have to ask… why did you stay so close to the shore if there was such a high risk of you getting caught? If there was such a high risk of you being discovered by the humans? Why didn’t you just leave the beach like your pack wanted you to?”

Oikawa looks back down at the rocks, his sharp nail resuming its aimless path along the jagged surface. “I couldn’t leave,” he says, and his voice is so quiet Iwaizumi almost can’t hear him. “I had to stay here in case you came back.”

Iwaizumi’s widen eyed at the comment and he tries to reign in how happy that simple statement makes him. He didn’t realize how determined Oikawa was to see him again. He knew his own determination, but he never would’ve imagined that Oikawa’s was just as strong. It makes something buzz in his chest, flutter beneath his rib cage.

“I’m sorry,” Iwaizumi finds himself apologizing again. “If I had found a way to keep my promise earlier, maybe none of this would’ve happened to you.”

“You didn’t intend to abandon me,” Oikawa says. “And you’re here now, so I guess that’s all I need in order to forgive you.”

Iwaizumi can’t stop the smile that starts to pull at his lips in response to Oikawa’s declaration. He doesn’t quite feel like he’s earned Oikawa’s forgiveness- at least not yet anyways- but he doesn’t argue. He’s relieved that he’s able to be forgiven.

“That is, as long as you don’t abandon me again,” Oikawa quickly adds.

“I’m still in school, so I can only be here for the summers again,” Iwaizumi tells him hesitantly. At the growing look of betrayal he receives from Oikawa, he quickly continues. “But, now that I don’t live at home anymore, I’m free to do whatever I want when I’m not in school. I promise I’ll be back here every opportunity I get, not just during the summers. And this time, when I make this promise to you, I’m going to keep it.”

Oikawa doesn’t seem to doubt the sincerity of Iwaizumi’s promise, despite having more than enough reason to not trust his word. Instead, his smile starts to return, and he lifts himself up out of the water, resting his weight on his palms splayed on the rocks on either side of Iwaizumi’s legs. It’s brings Oikawa’s face directly in front of Iwaizumi’s, so close that Iwaizumi can feel his warm breath against his nose and lips. It makes Iwaizumi’s heart stutter in his chest.

“I’ll hold you to that, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa murmurs with a devilish smirk that’s oddly befitting. “Because the next time, you may find that I won’t be so forgiving.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me over on [tumblr](http://bokusaka.tumblr.com/), and feel free to squeal with me over all my volleychildren. Also, who knows? I may do another one of these? :)


End file.
